formal pronoun: Jesus and his brothers

Like many languages (but unlike Greek or Hebrew or English), Tuvan uses a formal vs. informal 2nd person pronoun (a familiar vs. a respectful “you”). Unlike other languages that have this feature, however, the translators of the Tuvan Bible have attempted to be very consistent in using the different forms of address in every case a 2nd person pronoun has to be used in the translation of the biblical text.

As Voinov shows in Pronominal Theology in Translating the Gospels (in: The Bible Translator 2002, p. 210ff. ), the choice to use either of the pronouns many times involved theological judgment. While the formal pronoun can signal personal distance or a social/power distance between the speaker and addressee, the informal pronoun can indicate familiarity or social/power equality between speaker and addressee.

Here, Jesus’ brothers address Jesus with the informal pronoun.

Vitaly Voinov explains: “Whether one believes that these were Jesus’ younger brothers, his older halfbrothers, or his cousins, it seems that their familial intimacy coupled with a lack of faith and respect would preclude them from using a polite form in addressing Jesus. Using the informal address here in the Tuvan text is an excellent means to reinforce their expression of disbelief and possible mockery of Jesus’ mission.”

In most Dutch translations and Western Frisian, the brothers also use the informal pronoun, in Afrikaans, they use the formal variety.

complete verse (John 7:4)

Following are a number of back-translations of John 7:4:

  • Uma: “You (sing.) will not become a big person if you (sing.) just continually stay here. If you really can do miracles, show all the people in the world!'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “For if a person wants to be famous, he shouldn’t hide his doings. Because here you are doing wonder-causing deeds, you should show them to all the people.'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Because if there is a person who wants to become famous, it cannot be that he hides his works. For if you can do miracles, it is better that you show them to everybody.'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Because the one who wants to be well-known (lit. newsed), he doesn’t stay in the barrios, because of-course what he is doing will not become-known. If you (sing.) are doing something amazing, go then show-it so that the entire world will be able-to-come-to-know-it,’ they said.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Because there’s no person who hides what he is doing if he really wants to be well-known. It’s necessary that these things you are doing, you will cause them to be observed by all the people.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Anyone who wants it to be known about what he is doing doesn’t do what he does secretly. Do what you do but let the people know what you are doing.'” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on John 7:4

Special care must be used in translating No one hides what he is doing. A literal translation may imply that Jesus was hiding away in some secret place things he had been making. The meaning of hides in this context is “to do something without letting people know what one is doing.” An equivalent rendering may be “No one keeps people from knowing what he is doing, if he wants people to know who he really is.”

To be well known is more literally rendered “to be known publicly” (New American Bible) or “to be known openly” (Revised Standard Version). Moffatt translates this phrase “aims at public recognition” and New English Bible “to be in the public eye.” It may be rendered simply “in order for many people to know about you” or “in order that everyone will know who you are.”

Since (so also Moffatt and Jerusalem Bible) is “if” in most translations. In Greek the “if” clause indicates that the condition stated is true. This meaning is more clearly indicated in English by since. New English Bible implies doubt (“If you really are doing such things as these”), which seems not to be in keeping with the force of the Greek.

Let the whole world know about you is literally “show yourself to the world.” The whole world is equivalent to “the world of mankind” (see 1.10). The verb let may suggest mere permission in some languages, and a more appropriate rendering may be an expression of cause, for example, “cause everyone in the world to know about you.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on the Gospel of John. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1980. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

SIL Translator’s Notes on John 7:4

7:4a

For: The Greek conjunction that that Berean Standard Bible translates as For here introduces the reason Jesus’ brothers gave him for their advice. The word For means “because” here. Several English translations leave this conjunction implied and begin a new sentence here. For example:

No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. (New International Version)

no one who wants to be known publicly acts in secret: This negative statement is a strong way to make a positive statement: everyone who wants to become famous acts openly (publicly). Jesus’ brothers implied that Jesus wanted to be widely known and so he should act publicly. They wanted him to go to Judea, where the capital city Jerusalem was. Then more people would see the miracles he was doing.

Here are other ways to translate this clause:

no one who wants to be publicly known acts in secret (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
No one does anything in secret, if they want others to know about them. (Contemporary English Version)

In some languages it may be natural to change the order of the information in this clause. For example:

No one hides what he is doing if he wants to be well known. (Good News Translation)
-or-
You need to act so the public can see you if you want to become famous.

In some languages it is more natural to translate this as a positive statement. For example:

for everyone who wants to be famous acts openly/publicly

no one who wants to be known publicly: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as no one who wants to be known publicly means “no one who wants many people to know about him.”

Here are other ways to translate this phrase:

no one who seeks to make a reputation for himself (NET Bible Bible)
-or-
when he wants to be known publicly (God’s Word)

Jesus’ brothers were implying that Jesus was one of these people, someone who wanted to be widely known. You may want to make this clear. For example:

You can’t become famous if you hide like this! (New Living Translation (2004))

acts in secret: Jesus had not actually been acting in secret (secretly). He had been acting openly, but in the villages and small towns of Galilee. His brothers were implying that Galilee was a less important province/region than Judea. They wanted Jesus to go to the important city of Jerusalem so that more important people would see his works. Here are other ways to translate this phrase:

does things secretly (God’s Word)
-or-
hides what he does

7:4b

Since You are doing these things, show Yourself to the world: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Since You are doing these things implies that Jesus was in fact doing these things. So it may be natural to make that clear. For example:

You are doing these things, so let the world see them.
-or-
let the world know what you are doing (Contemporary English Version)

these things: This phrase refers to the miracles Jesus was doing. In some languages it may be natural to make this explicit. For example:

such wonderful things (New Living Translation (2004))

show Yourself to the world: The Greek expression that the Berean Standard Bible translates as show Yourself to the world means “cause everyone to see/know what you are doing.” Jesus’ brothers were advising him to let more people (and, especially, more important people) see what he could do. For example:

you should reveal yourself to the world (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
let the whole world know about you (Good News Translation)
-or-
you should let the world see you (God’s Word)

the world: This phrase refers to people in general. Jesus’ brothers were thinking of the people of Judea, in contrast to the small group of people in Galilee. They wanted more people to see Jesus’ miracles. So it may be natural to more clearly refer to people. For example:

everyone
-or-
all the people

© 2020 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.